ToastMasters?

[jwslam]

Anyone part of any of the ones that meet during lunch hours downtown? My buddy and I are interested in joining; we are at Banker's all. We've attended a session with the Palliser group that meets Wed at Noon and we're really feeling the group.

Also, please feel free to share about any personal stories about how it's helped you / etc.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Does this stuff actually work? As someone who hates public speaking probably more than anything else I can think of, the thought of taking a course where all I will be doing is public speaking pretty much rules it out for me right away. There is no comfort whatsoever knowing that the other people there are there for the same reason haha.

[jwslam]

So when we went last week it was an internal competition of 5 members as to who would get to represent the club in regionals? The topics were all impromtu for the competitors so it was interesting to see. "You're a newborn baby that's one hour old. Explain to us what you think of this new world". They were also limited to speak for at least a minute but less than 2.5.

The one guy who was really the worst (IMO) said he's been doing it for 8 years on and off. The other guy who did quite well (also IMO) has been doing it for about 10 months consistently. So I think it's one of those things where you get out of it what you put in.

Personally I'm interested as I think it would improve my ability to think on the spot and communicate more effectively. I'd also like to be more comfortable with the whole public speaking thing, including in front of peers.

Also, did you know the number one fear besides death is public speaking?

[Mitsu3000gt]

^^ Haha I have heard that statistic before - not hard to believe at all. The description of that class sounds like an absolute nightmare. The only thing worse than public speaking is being put on the spot in a public speaking environment Good on you for wanting to do it though.

[dandia89]

find a good group for toastmasters, people who are energetic and want to be there. Then you'll want to keep going. A lot of people can be there due to routine.

I definitely would do it more often if I saw myself doing a lot of presentations, which I don't. I found it valuable to just get used to standing up and ensuring my thoughts were organized and I didn't stumble through. Have smaller goals (i.e. less 'umms', a more captivating voice).

After doing a 5 min stand up comedy @ open mic, I realized presentations are nothing in comparison.

[Neil4Speed]

Toastmasters was a great experience for me, definitely developed my public speaking skills with it.

The one thing to be cognizant of is that each group has a "culture". The First group that I went to (Bantrel), was a great group of guys and diverse (stopped going though as it was far from my new job).

The second one I tried just seemed too Toastmasters "geeky". Rather than a venue to improve skills it was more of an environment to practice acting.

[a social dsease]

I've been attending Toastmasters for 3 years. When I originally joined I didn't even know what it was; I was new at my job and got invited by some co-workers and blindly said yes just because I thought it would be a good networking opportunity (which it was).

Before Toastmasters it's not like I was terrified of speaking, but I definitely would NOT have listed it as a strength. One of those things that you have to do sometimes, and you just try and get it over with. My previous role was in design and didn’t really entail a lot of presentations/meetings, mainly just working at my desk. But in my new job, I really noticed how big of an asset speaking skills could be. Not only for formal business presentations, but leading/contributing in meetings, communicating ideas to others, or volunteering to present a topic at a safety meeting. It was easy for me to tell who was confident at speaking and who wasn’t, and equally easy to see how valuable the skill was for those people who were good at it. So I made it my goal to go from a “so-so” speaker, to a “good” speaker. I stuck with Toastmasters and gradually worked my way through the program. The two biggest things I got out of Toastmasters were:

A) just building confidence. With speaking (like most skills), the more you do it, the better you get.
B) The opportunity to get evaluations/feedback in a non-judgmental way after each speech is great. When you speak you’re usually so focused on delivering your content that you don’t notice if you’re doing weird things. For example, when speaking/presenting, I’d often pace around the room without even noticing it, and I had a habit of constantly clearing my throat, both of which are super distracting to the audience. In Toastmasters my evaluators would point this out to me, so I’d know to work on it for my next speech.

In my 3 years in Toastmasters I’ve done 12 formal prepared speeches plus numerous table-topics, evaluations, minor roles etc, and I’ve DEFINITELY noticed a huge improvement in my speaking skills over where I was 3 years ago. I would absolutely list speaking as a strength now, and my supervisors have certainly noticed this too, I’ve received plenty of positive feedback at work. Obviously the need for speaking skills depends on your role; I personally wouldn’t say its 100% critical to my job, but at the end of the day it’s one more tool in my toolkit, and in these times any additional skill you have is an asset when it comes to progressing within your company/not getting laid off/looking for a job/etc (depending on your situation).

So my advice is definitely to try Toastmasters, BUT in order to get something out of it, you MUST participate. Attend meetings regularly, volunteer for roles, step out of your comfort zone. Participation is the key to progressing; if you’re not willing to do that, then don’t bother.


One additional comment: Our club has lost quite a few members in the last year due to layoffs, and we’re very much looking for new members. We meet every 2nd Thursday at lunch (downtown) and we have a pretty relaxed/fun environment (some clubs are very serious!). If you’re interested, feel free to PM me.